Automatic raising and lowering traveling saw machine



Jan. 2, 1951 Filed NOV. 29, 1946 L. L. GRANT AUTOMATIC RAISING AND LOWERING TRAVELING SAW MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 2, 1951 L. L. GRANT AUTOMATIC RAISING AND LowERING vTRAVELING SAW MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 29, 1946 adomwa Patented Jan. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTMATIC RAISING AND LOVVERING TRAVELING SAW MAGHINE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to power driven equipment, more particularly for cutting or finishing operations, in providing cycle of operations therefor.

This invention has utility when incorporated in an electric motor drive disk type of saw. A support or table locates adjustably and controls saw traverse in effecting successive cuttings, say of thn Sheet stock, such as plywood, pressboard, wall board and the like.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view, with parts broken away, of a table upon which the work may be placed, and thru the deck of which the saw may extend;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the table of Fig. l, showing features of the motor driven disk saw in its cutting direction course;

Fig. 3 is a section on an'enlarged scale on the line III-III, Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, showing the assembly of the saw and motor upon the mounting rail or tube;

Fig. 4 is a View of the saw and motor mounting from the right of Fig. 3, and the opposite side thereof from the showing in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a partial detail view of the controls as locating the saw in inactive or retracted position for return idle transit back to starting position for then taking on a succeeding cutting traverse of the work.

The table Base portions I have end plates 2 rising therefrom and centrally carrying vertical channels 3. Thereon is mounted a deck or table top I having lengthwise thereof and spaced slightly from one edge inward, a slot 5. Side enclosing sheets 6, 'I are provided. The sheet E' nearer the slot 5 has a window region 8 with an inwardly extending vane 3 upwardly inclined (Fig. 3). This is located in a suitable position to receive sawdust and have it delivered clear of the under-the-table controls.

The moizomz'l and saw carriage drive Mounted between the end channels 3 and spaced down parallel with the table top or deck 4 is a guide tube or monorail Il? having a bottom rib I5. Movable along this unit lll, Il is a carriage I2.

Parallel to the rail l@ and therebelow is a frame member or horzontal channel i3, also between the end channels 3. In order to allow clearway over this frame member i3, a motor l d is mounted to depend therefrom. An endless belt I5 from the motor Ill drives a pulley lli on a worm shaft I 'I at a speed reduction gear box I8 having an upstanding shaft I9 therefrom extending upwardly from the frame member I3 and having liked thereon a lower Cutting course drive pulley 2d and an upper larger return course actuating pulley 2l. A belt 22 from the pulley 20 drives a pulley 23 loose on a vertical shaft 24. Near the end of the table top 4 is a control handle 25, which as moved up, is effective thru a rod 26 to lift the pulley 23 into yengagement with a clutch 2l, thereby causing the belt 22 to drive a sprocket wheel 28 at the upper end of the shaft 2li to pull theretoward the forward reach of a sprocket chain 29 having an adjustable connection 3d with the carriage l2. By shifting the handle 25 away from a holding catch 3| therefor to a catch 32, the shaft or rod 26 is lowered, pulley 23 released, and a pulley 33 is brought to the clutch 2l. Crossed belt 234i from the pulley 2l is now effective thru the pulley 33, shaft 24 and the sprocket wheel 2&1 to cause the carriage I2 to move away from the sprocket wheel 2&2.

The carriage, motor and saw um't The carriage l2 has rollers 35 taking its load antifrictionally on the rail Ill, while lower rollers 33 against the opposte sides of the rib Il maintain the carriage upright for its side bearings 31 to support frame 38 rockably for said frame to swing in a vertical plane thru or parallel to the rail l0. supplementing lower leg or arm 3S of the frame 33 are struts lo to x an electric motor lll below the rail Il).

A pulley il2 is driven by the motor il and, as a transmission, extends upward by a belt 43 to a pulley lill on a shaft d5 thru an upper arm 45 of the frame 33. The shaft 45 as extending thru the frame arm lili, has mounted thereon a disk saw ill. In the practice hereunder, a general shield or envelope 43 is about the lower portion of the saw blade lll and has therefrom a deflector chute lll in position at the range of adjustments for the saw @l (Fig. 3), to deliver sawdust from the disk to the vane 9 for spill thru the window 8 out from the table housing, and thus clear of the carriage drive and control mechanism. Open top 5l! of the shield i8 is adjustably reduced by a shield section 5l swinging from a pivot mounting 52 on the shield G3. Remote from the pivot 52, the section 5l has rollers 53 adapted to ride against the underside of the table top 4|, as the blade il protrudes thru the slot 5. A spring 54 yieldably directs the rollers upward, so that in the direction of work cutting, there is an envelope for the blade 4l snugly up toward the table top 4. Th@ .high Speed turning of the disk 4l into this envelope creates a suction for drawing the dust from the cuttings into the shield and clear of the work. This is an automatic supply for the chute 49.

Positioning the saw as to the work Fixed with the frame 38 is a gear segment 55 (Fig, 4), A bearing 55 on the carrier i2 (Fig. Ll) mounts the lower end of a Worm shaft 5l having a hand wheel 53 thereon. A slotted arm 59 also' mounted on the carrier i2 may be locked by a screw clamp 5i? to hold the worm 5l in mesh with the segment 55. The frictional' resistance of this adjustable connection is suiicient to hold the saw blade into or out of work as may be set thru the hand wheel 58.

The automatic cycle controls Adjustably mounted on the sprocket chain 29 to travel in the cutting course toward the sprocket wheel: 25 is ak cam` 5l. Just before the blade il reaches the end of the slot 5, the cam 5I strikes a block 52 nired with the rod 25, which pulls the handle 25 away from its holding clip 3i and releases the pulley 23` from the clutch 2l. Instead of having the arm 25 stop at a mid neutral position, the cam 5l may operate the block 52 for shifting the handle 25 tothe holding clip 32. Then clutch 2l is connected to the pulley 33 to reverse the direction of travel ci the chain 29. The cam 5! rides back in this reversal without by sol doing resetting the block 52.

When the carriage l2 has taken the blade il near to the opposite endY of the slot 5, the other reach of the sprocket chain 29 in its travel toward the sprocket wheel 23 has adjustable cam clamp 65 thereon strike a block 6i on the rod 26. The handle 25 may be thereby snapped clear of the holding clip 52, and the pulley 33 be unclutched for the recover course to be discontinued. However, when the cam G3 is effective for a pull throw of the handle 25 to the holding clip 3l, the pulley 23 is brought into driving position with the clutch 2l and the saw blade- @i is in its progress back toward the sprocket wheel 28.

Whether or not reversal oi saw travel direction be produced by the cams in the controls, there maybe cutting out of the blade il to remain above the table top i during the recover travel. A time interval may thus be saved for re-locating the work. To this end, the clamptl) may be reset to shift the worm gear 5l clear of the segment 55.

On a pivot 55 ofthe housing or carriage l2 is a trigger 65 (Fig. 5) having a seat 6'! normally thrust by a tension spring 58' to engagera pin G5. (Fig. 2) to holdthe blade il in its position of upwardly projecting thru the slot 5.

Properly timed with the location of the adjustable 5l, a ringer i5 acts upon cam end 'H of the trigger 55 to rock the seat 5l clear of thev pin 55, for the travel direction reversal of the motor' fit', in its momentum with its mass andl the mass or the blade l? to allow the arm d5 to move the pin 55 into-'a seat 'i2 of the trigger 65.. The contourci the face of the trigger 56; between the seatsl 5i and 'i2 coacts in determining this swinging of the blade il downward sufficiently not to project upward thru the slot 5 of the table top ii. The table top i is thus a clearway for the operator to move the sheet stock into the desired position over the slot 5 fora succeeding cutting or sawing operation.

supplementing this control rocking of the frame 3S, isV a second trigger I3v having pivot is` held in its below-the-table top out-of-use position in the reverse transit until the cam 63 makes the cut-in for the sawing course back. The location of this cam 53 is timed with a xed finger i8 carried -by the frame adjacent follower sprocket wheel 'i9 for the chain 29. The finger 'I8 strikes a cam end oi the trigger 13 to rock it against the action of the spring 53 clear of the pin 16, and the general momentum reversal here at the higher lineal travel rate than that of cutting, due to the larger pulley 2l, at once rocks the frame 3S to shift the blade il upward to protrude thruthe slot 5 into cutting position. Y

Conveniently near an end of the table there is a switch il for starting and stopping the motor it thru electric conduit 82 thereto. A second switchv 83 has electricalV conductor means 8f3-with sufficient slack therein to hang over a rod 84 in providing connection to the motor 4|.

The power saw of the disclosure herein is adapted for use in production programs, as well as readily to respond to job shop operatic-ns. In. the former, there may occur the automatic cycle repetition, with placement of the work to be synchronized therewith, whether manual or automatic, However, the major utility arises from being possible readily to adapt the tool to the cutting job at hand. For instance with short cuts, there is no requirement for full transit the entire length of the slot 5. As the saw blade 4l completes its traverse thru the work, whether or not it be to the end of the slot 5 at the right of Fig. l, the handle 3l may be shoved downward. Whether this shifting of the clutch 2l be manual or auto-matic, it may be just partial to stop the travel of the carriage l2. Experience has it that the operator generally desires the carriage l2 back to the left or starting end of theV slot 5. Accordingly, the down shifting oi the handle 3| with the clutch 2l up isl usually effective for connecting the transmission 2l, 34, 33, to move the carriage I 2 to the left end of the slot 5. Conveniently, the carriage may come to rest. However, if such be not inthe program, the operator may pull up, even at this interval, more vigorously upon the handle 3l, The response is for the clutch 2l to connect in the transmission 20, 22, 3-, for the cutting direction of travel starting for the blade i1 to the right in the'slot (Fig. l). It is thus to be seen, that without materialy disturbance of the automatic features, manual control may be adopted.

The hand wheel 58, in its adjustment, may determine the height of the blade di to project above the table .1, for its cutting operation. Furthermore, with the hand wheel 58 effective thru the worm 5l and the segment 55 to lock the lever frame 38, the trigger controls are nullii'ied. Accordingly, as the extent of upward projection of the blade il be acceptably established by theV triggers 55, '53, the arm 59 may release the worm 5i' from the segment 55 and be so held by the clamp 55. This allowsl the trigger 55, not only to effect the automatic stop at the cutting limit, but to have the blade 4.7 lowered relatively to the table top 5 during retraction, to allow work to be set.

What is claimed and it is desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Machine tool equipment comprising a rotary tool, a motor, a frame assembling the tool and motor as a unit, a carriage providing pivotal mounting for the frame, a track for the carriage, a transmission connection for moving the carriage along the track, and control mechanism including a trigger coacting between the frame and carriage in one direction of carriage travel along the track to rock the frame on the carriage, and a finger, near a terminal position of the track, to be there engaged by and to act thru the trigger to rock the frame.

2. Machine tool equipment comprising a rotary tool, a motor, a frame assembling the tool and motor as a unit, a carriage providing pivotal mounting for the frame, a track for the carriage, a transmission connection for moving the carriage along the track, and control mechanism including a pair of triggers, and spaced lingers along the track to leave an operation clearance for tool functioning therebetween, one of said fingers coacting with one of the triggers for rocking the frame relatively to the carriage for tool working progress along the track, and the other nger coacting with the other trigger for retracting the rocking frame for tool return to carry thru for a succeeding cycle of working progress.

LESTER L. GRANT.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file-of this patent:

" UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 20,687 Grozier Apr. 5, 1938 226,904 Culver Apr. 27, 1880 419,848 Greenlee Jan. 2:1, 1890 714,314 Luther Nov. 25, 1902 1,057,471 Westman Apr; 1, 1912 l 1,139,808 Ryckman May 18, 1915 1,528,535 De Walt Mar. 3, 1925 1,586,494 Walker May 2.5, 1926 1,797,907 Drysdale Mar. 24, 1931 1,813,435 Bentz July 7, 1931 1,830,151 Wilderson Nov. 3, 1931 1,842,114 Pratt Jan. 19, 1932 1,888,679 Knapp Nov. 22, 1932 1,988,102 Woodward Jan. 1&5, 1935 2,044,481 Manley et al. June 16, 1936 2,062,969 Dutcher Dec. 1, 1936 2,142,303 Crouch Jan. 3, 1939 2,258,828 Trebert Oct. 14, 1941 2,496,613 Woodward Feb. 7, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 136,657 Great Britain Dec. 23, 1919 447,663 Germany July 30, 1927 

